The Secret Hiding Place

by Lynn Mosher
(Louisville, KY)

When the bank is overdrawn and bills pile up...
When kids are sick and doctors' visits are out of the question...
When relationships fall apart and bring heartache...

...know where I run to hide when all these trials and hurts enter my life with a vengeance? As a child running to the security of its father's lap, I run right into the shelter of God's presence, His secret hiding place.

David knew this hiding place so well and wrote of it many times. In the Psalms, he said to God, "Hide me under the shadow of Your wings," (Ps. 17:8 NKJV). "I shall live forever in Your tabernacle; oh, to be safe beneath the shelter of Your wings!" (Ps. 61:4 TLB)

This reminds me of a story I heard someone tell. It happened years ago when a massive fire overwhelmed the Grand Teton National Park. Afterward, as several men walked through the ashes, one man saw a charred bird and gently moved it with his foot, only to find, beneath the mother, three living baby birds, all of which immediately hopped off. The mother had protected her precious ones under her wings, bringing them deliverance from the fire, for she gave up her life that they might live to take flight.

God's overshadowing presence is the same for us, covering us with His wings of protection and rescuing us from the fires of hell through the exchange of Jesus' death that we might live to have eternal life.

Psalm 91 is a beautiful example of that protective secret hiding place in the Lord. Verse 1 says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." God's secret shelter is like a feathered retreat, a nested refuge. In the first part of verse 4, it says, "With His feathers he will cover you, and under His wings you shall seek refuge."

When defined, the meaning of this verse is much richer. If we reworded it according to its definitions, it might read like this, "Like a mother hen, He will lay the feathers of His wings over you, and cover you with His mantle of protection when you flee to Him for refuge in hope and trust; He will overshadow you, defend you, hedge you in, and stop the approach of the enemy." How great is that!

As David so aptly put it, "And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by." (Ps. 57:1 NKJV)

When trials overwhelm you, in what do you take refuge? Where do you hide?

Prayer: Lord, when the waves of life's circumstances attempt to overwhelm me, I know I can run to You and You will welcome me with open arms, covering me with Your mantle of protection and care. I pray that all those who need to feel Your feathered retreat will do so today. Amen.

~~Blessings and keep dancing, Lynn~~